Just trying to find a little on this entry. I have a photo of the car on the pitlane apron (during practice I think) but can't find any info for it apart from OldRacingcCars.com which says it was an Epperly Roadster entred as the Maxson & Jeffries Special. It didn't qualify/race. Would anyone have an idea on the driver, if nothing else? Many thanks indeed
Califonia 500 1970.....the number 88?
Started by
Gary C
, Jan 10 2019 11:11
5 replies to this topic
Advertisement
#2
Vitesse2
-
- 43,468 posts
- Joined: April 01
Administrator
Posted 10 January 2019 - 11:16
Just trying to find a little on this entry. I have a photo of the car on the pitlane apron (during practice I think) but can't find any info for it apart from OldRacingcCars.com which says it was an Epperly Roadster entred as the Maxson & Jeffries Special. It didn't qualify/race. Would anyone have an idea on the driver, if nothing else? Many thanks indeed
Sam Sessions, possibly replacing Denny Zimmerman, according to ChampCarStats:
http://www.champcars...aces/197012.htm
#3
Gary C
-
- 5,604 posts
- Joined: January 01
Member
Posted 10 January 2019 - 11:42
excellent, Vitesse, thank you so much!
#4
Michael Ferner
-
- 7,203 posts
- Joined: November 09
Member
Posted 10 January 2019 - 13:32
Originally there was no driver entered for the Maxson-Jeffries entry, but Denny Zimmerman was fired by the #50 Navarro crew and got the drive, but flunked his "refresher" test and was not allowed to qualify. Sam Sessions was entered in the #74 Caves car, and tried to qualify that car until the last day. It's possible he jumped into the Maxson-Jeffries car for some hot laps or even a late qualifying attempt, but I have no record of that.*
More info on #88? Owners were Darwin Maxson and Dean Jeffries, who also owned an ex-Foyt Sprint car running locally in California. Maxson was also chief mechanic, and his career in racing reached right back to the thirties. Jeffries was a custom car paint artist. The metal work on the car was done by Quinn Epperly, who'd done the same on the Indy 500 winners of 1957 & '58. The car had a turbocharged Offenhauser four-cylinder engine, and was of pretty advanced design iirc. But the days when even a well built front-engined car could compete at htis level were over, and it didn't achieve anything of note in the two or three years it was run.
* EDIT Further research shows that Sessions was "the man left in the cockpit of his (...) No. 74 Caves Buick" when the gun sounded to signify the end of qualifying (The Indianapolis Star, Aug 31, p22), so that would appear to mean that he didn't drive the Maxson-Jeffries.
More info on #88? Owners were Darwin Maxson and Dean Jeffries, who also owned an ex-Foyt Sprint car running locally in California. Maxson was also chief mechanic, and his career in racing reached right back to the thirties. Jeffries was a custom car paint artist. The metal work on the car was done by Quinn Epperly, who'd done the same on the Indy 500 winners of 1957 & '58. The car had a turbocharged Offenhauser four-cylinder engine, and was of pretty advanced design iirc. But the days when even a well built front-engined car could compete at htis level were over, and it didn't achieve anything of note in the two or three years it was run.
* EDIT Further research shows that Sessions was "the man left in the cockpit of his (...) No. 74 Caves Buick" when the gun sounded to signify the end of qualifying (The Indianapolis Star, Aug 31, p22), so that would appear to mean that he didn't drive the Maxson-Jeffries.
Edited by Michael Ferner, 10 January 2019 - 14:14.
#5
Allen Brown
-
- 5,570 posts
- Joined: December 00
Member
Posted 10 January 2019 - 17:58
There was an announcement in the press that Roger McCluskey was going to drive it, but that seems hard to believe.
A couple of newspapers printed pictures of it in the Ontario pitlane, once being towed along and once just being peered into. Whether it moved under its own power is unclear. Did Zimmerman use it for his refresher test Michael?
The best article I've seen about the car is this one from the The Indianapolis Star, Monday May 19, 1969, page 32:
https://www.newspape...rly_maxson_spl/
I tried to post up this image from newspaper.com's clipping service, but the forum software forbade me
https://img.newspape...71e8acf54d0b587
A couple of newspapers printed pictures of it in the Ontario pitlane, once being towed along and once just being peered into. Whether it moved under its own power is unclear. Did Zimmerman use it for his refresher test Michael?
The best article I've seen about the car is this one from the The Indianapolis Star, Monday May 19, 1969, page 32:
https://www.newspape...rly_maxson_spl/
I tried to post up this image from newspaper.com's clipping service, but the forum software forbade me
https://img.newspape...71e8acf54d0b587
#6
Michael Ferner
-
- 7,203 posts
- Joined: November 09
Member
Posted 10 January 2019 - 18:56
A couple of newspapers printed pictures of it in the Ontario pitlane, once being towed along and once just being peered into. Whether it moved under its own power is unclear. Did Zimmerman use it for his refresher test Michael?
It would apppear so. The test was on Thursday Aug 27, the same day the picture of DZ in the car was published, and also Les Scott, his replacement in the Navarro/Rambler, was scheduled to go the same day - he wasn't entered originally, so would not have had a drive if DZ was still in the #50. The #88 car must have run in practice, because it was in the draw for the qualifying order, which usually (at least at Indy) only included cars with the "final sticker", which was to signify it was ready to qualify, and which would only be given to cars which were running on the track during practice.
